Dr. Wallace S. Karutz Dead

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Dr. Wallace S. Karutz, breeder of champion filly Brave Raj, died Jan. 31 at 85. He was living in the Ocala, Fla., area at the time of his death.

An ear, nose, and throat specialist, Karutz owned farms in Florida, Kentucky, and New York during his lengthy career in racing. The Kentucky farm was the first. He and his father, Dr. Charles Karutz, started Bourbon Hills Farm near Paris in the early 1960s.

Brave Raj, the best of the 41 stakes winners bred by Karutz, was by Rajab, a stallion that Karutz stood at his Florida farm. Brave Raj won five consecutive stakes in her championship 2-year-old season in 1986 for owner Dolly Green. Her big win came in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (gr. I).

For his role as breeder of Brave Raj, Karutz received a 1986 Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association award for Florida.

As a broodmare, Brave Raj produced two stakes winners, including the dam of Kentucky stallion Eurosilver.

Karutz, who was born and reared in New York City, bought his first horse in 1959. His initial stakes winner, Golden Or, was the first of three added-money winners that he raced. Golden Or won the 1968 Schuylerville Stakes at Saratoga.

Karutz bred 37 stakes winners in his name and four in partnership. In addition to Brave Raj, he was the breeder of graded stakes winners Big Jewel and Perfect Poppy. Karutz was a member of the board of directors of the New York division of the Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association.

A Navy veteran, Karutz is survived by sons Wallace Jr., George, and William; and daughter, Catherine; and longtime companion Debbie Schnell.

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